Shawn Shelnutt’s Happiness through Humor

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Image via The Interchange Theatre Co-Op

Shawn Shelnutt

Shawn Shelnutt knows comedy can make a difference in people’s lives. And he’s OK with it not always being his. 

“If you find a comedian with a good heart, their potential is limitless, in what they can do for humanity,” the Milwaukee funnyman insists. “If a doctor goes to Starbucks in the morning, and the barista makes the doctor laugh, the doctor will have a better day. Every patient that the doctor sees that day, will see a doctor that is having a good day. And they’ll never know it was because of the barista. But it was. So, the barista will have helped each patient have a better day. It doesn’t matter what you do in life; everybody has the power to create happiness for others.” 

Shelnutt hopes to create happiness among attendees of the latest edition of the Interchange Theater Co-Op improvisatory series, “The Journal,” as he opens the evening with a set of his stand-up at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 29. His observations on comedy as a way to pay goodwill forward come in the midst of memories of working as a youth crisis mentor, one of the myriad professions he had on the way to his comedy career. It’s one from which he draws for some of most poignant bits.

“I believe my ability to make people laugh, helped more than everything I learned in eight years of schooling for psychology. That isn’t to take away from what I learned in school,” Shelnutt says. Due to his military service in the ‘00s, Shelnutt has a story of recovery at least as amazing as any of those he may have helped in his capacity counseling youth.

Joining Up

“I joined the army a couple weeks after 9/11 and I got out in 2005as a result of a roadside bomb in Iraq,” he recalls of a potentially fatal incident. “I suffered a traumatic brain injury, and it took several years for me to regain the majority of my ability to read. It wasn’t that I couldn’t read, but I had to reread things dozens of times to get through one page of text. Despite the barriers that were put up in my life as a result of my time in the military, I am genuinely thankful for taking that path because I do believe it taught me so much about life that many people won’t learn ever learn; or, if they do, it’s usually much later in life. 

“It only furthered my need to bring more happiness to the world,” Shelnutt affirms. After immersing himself in “Saturday Night Live” and other TV comedies in his younger years, his first step toward making a career in stand-up is one that could have led him into addiction. 

“Damon Millard did me a huge favor that day,” Shelnutt confesses regarding the comedian who put him first on an open mic schedule. In those years he was inebriated or at least buzzed before his stage time. “I don’t know that I would’ve spiraled into alcoholism, but pretty early on, I had someone make me go up sober. And I was still funny … supposedly,” he chuckles.

Ducking Tomatos?

“I was at an open mic at Karma Bar and Grill in Milwaukee in 2014,” he remembers of the night that precipitated his becoming The OG Tomato Guy, a living target for produce thrown at him by passersby. “They were looking for an extra person, and it ended up being me," he recollects of the opportunity afforded him during the time he was still working with troubled kids and earning his graduate degree in clinical psychology. 

“I didn’t want to do as much insult comedy that the tomato game at Renaissance fairs traditionally is known for,” Shelnutt says of his pelted-at alter ego. "So, I started my own style of wholesome roasting and interactive humor. OG Tomato Guy is that persona. It separates me from the traditional tomato guys at renaissance fairs.” The gig allows him to incorporate his stand-up talent with the improv comedy skills he has honed. “I studied longform improv at upright citizens brigade in New York City, and short form improv here in Milwaukee,” he adds. Plus, working as both a traditional comic and OG Tomato Guy still allows him plenty of time as a husband and father. “I am able to be back most Monday-through-Thursdays,” he says. 

Rich as his life has been, Shelnutt's role as parent is becoming his deepest well for inspiration. “I think the job that I glean the most comedy from currently is the job of being a dad. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.” And though he loves his family plenty, he has affection to spare for those who would patronize his artistry, too.

“Get through whatever you’re going through, so you can get some pretty amazing stuff,” Shelnutt encourages anyone reading now. “I believe in you. I really actually genuinely care. On top of the impromptu attempt to inspire a random reader, I hope that they give me a chance to make them laugh as well.”

Here Shelnutt is eliciting laughter from a crowd at New York City’s Broadway Comedy Club, riffing on his weight and a most embarrassing misidentification someone scribbled on his helmet as a fledgling soldier, among other topics ...